CANMORE, Alta. — Sprawled out in a snow angel, Jesse Cockney lay motionless at the finish line for what seemed like an eternity.

“It’s bittersweet right now,” he said, finally scraping himself off the snow. “I’ve never skied this well in my life. There’s a lot more days like this to come, but right now I’m little upset that I maybe wasted a great day.

“I’m disappointed. But it’s hard to really be disappointed with the best race of my life.”

With all due respect, Cockney entered the 2012 Alberta World Cup of cross-country skiing as a complete unknown. Geography — not status — gave the Canadian development team member the opportunity to race against the top skiers on the planet at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

So the 23-year-old stunned everyone in attendance by blazing to a second-place finish Saturday in qualifying for the men’s 1.3-km free sprint.

Buoyed by such an incredible result, the Canmore resident proceeded to lead from the gun to tape in the quarter-final — invoking a huge roar from the pro-Canadian crowd lining the picturesque course in the Rocky Mountains.

Then came the semifinal. Once again, Cockney led the pack from the start and sat in first place as he crested the final hill in view of the finish line.

Cue the rookie mistake. The pack boxed the Canadian newcomer out and shoved him to the side of the track.

He simply ran out of room.

“I didn’t play in that well on top of the course,” he said. “I was kind of sunk there once I was out of position.

“I know the speed I can put out, and I didn’t have the space to do that.”

In spite of the strategic error, Cockney finished ninth against a world-class field that included the likes of Canadian stars Devon Kershaw (50th) and Alex Harvey (52nd).

In qualifying, Cockney placed second behind only Swedish superstar Emil Joensson (the eventual winner of the race.)

On this day, a young man opened his eyes to the true meaning of his potential.

“That’s why it’s so important for us to have Canadian World Cups,” said Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth “To get that first kind of glimpse and think, `I can do this. People aren’t that different than me.’

“Hopefully, Jesse will really come from this and be ready to push.”

In storybook fashion, eight aboriginal and Metis youngsters from remote Northern Alberta took in the races this weekend guests of 2002 Olympic gold medallist Beckie Scott.

Turns out they witnessed one of their own hold his own against the top skiers on Earth.

“When you look at the big aboriginal picture in the world and look at the field in sports, I don’t think we lack the ability,” said Angus Cockney, Jesse’s father. “Most of the time, I think we lack the opportunity.”

Angus Cockney is Inuit. His son is half-Inuit. The family moved down to Canmore from Yellowknife 16 years ago to what Angus calls “the Mecca” of cross-country skiing in Canada.

Jesse followed the career path blazed by his father, who won two golds at the 1975 Winter Games. The younger Cockney won three gold and one silver last year at the Canada Winter Games and finished sixth at the under-23 world Nordic championships.

Onward….and upward.

“I hope the coaches see that I’ve improved on a lot of things over the summer and the last year,” Jesse said. “I belong with these guys.

“I beat everyone except for one guy in the qualifier today, so yeah, I would say I belong with these guys.”

Judging by the faraway look in his eyes, the words appeared to settle in as they left his mouth.

“I think at this level, it’s all about your sense of confidence,” Angus said. “When you step on that start line, how do you feel? Do you feel secure enough? Do you believe you can compete? I think that’s key to performing at any level. Being an elite skier, you need that confidence. You see it with the top guys. They’re out there and they know who is boss.

“So he’s getting there.”

Due to his career-best performance, Cockney likely earned a trip to Europe next month to compete on behalf of Canada in the World Cup.

And this time, geography will have nothing to do with his presence at the start line.